Himal Parbhoo, CEO of FNB Insurance

Life cover is one of the main ways many parents try to make sure their families are financially supported if they are no longer there, trusting the benefit payout to help their loved ones with major responsibilities, including debts, household expenses and the many everyday family costs.

Education is one of the most significant of those costs – and for most children it’s a journey that continues for many years. This means school fees, uniforms, transport, stationery and tertiary costs don’t stop if a parent passes away, becomes critically ill or is permanently disabled. Unfortunately, a typical life cover payout needs to cover the many other household needs – which can leave a child’s education less protected than parents hoped.

FNB data highlights the risks families face when relying solely on general life cover to protect their children’s education. Two in three parents underestimate the true cost of education, while seven in ten rely on their monthly income to fund education-related expenses, leaving them potentially vulnerable when unexpected life events occur.

“Parents often make enormous sacrifices to give their children the best education they can,” explains FNB Insurance CEO, Himal Parbhoo “But education is not a once-off expense. It is a long journey, from early schooling through to tertiary education and, as such, it needs a plan that can keep working even if the family’s circumstances change or a main income earner gets ill or passes away.”

He explains that the real issue is not whether parents have made provision for their families – because most have – but rather whether education has been protected specifically enough within that provision. “A life cover benefit can quickly be used up by many urgent needs immediately after a claim, but education costs continue long after that moment,” Parbhoo explains. “That’s why education-specific cover is so valuable, because it creates a dedicated protection layer for that long-term journey, so school and tertiary fees can be dealt with directly rather than left to compete for whatever other cover is still available.”

Investing and life cover form an important foundation for education planning, but they may not always be enough to guarantee that education funding remains intact when life takes an unexpected turn. In many cases, life cover proceeds are used to settle debt, replace lost income or meet immediate household needs, leaving education funding exposed.

“If unfortunately a claim needs to be made, families may be dealing with grief, administration and difficult financial decisions,” Parbhoo points out. “Knowing that a child’s education is protected and that tuition will be paid directly to the school, college or university not only provides peace of mind, but it also helps keep the child’s education journey moving forward while the family deals with everything else.”

Make sure you look for an education plans that offers you different options, allowing parents to choose cover based on the education path they want to support. A public option is designed around public schooling, a private option includes private schooling, and a global option can support selected accredited international tertiary institutions.

Some plans also recognise that education costs go beyond tuition. Offering parents optional annual top-up benefits to help with additional costs such as transport, stationery, uniforms and aftercare. Make sure that the benefit amounts and limits increase annually with education inflation, helping the cover keep pace with rising education costs.

“A good education plan is one that looks beyond next year’s fees and ensures that the education costs will still be specifically covered if the person funding it is no longer able to do so,” Parbhoo emphasises. “This is the protection gap many families need to think about more carefully, because safeguarding a child’s future is not just about leaving them some money – it’s about ensuring their learning faces as little disruption as possible.”

ENDS